Canada PM Mark Carney launches AI strategy warning of foreign dominance

On Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney introduced his strategy for artificial intelligence, emphasizing the dangers posed by the nation’s sluggish embrace of this technology and the urgent need to enhance domestic capabilities to avoid potential misuse. A key focus of Carney's plan is to lessen reliance on the United States, addressing concerns regarding the dominance of American tech companies. He remarked on Canada’s significant dependence on foreign sources for AI infrastructure, which raises the risk of foreign access to Canadian data and the introduction of AI solutions misaligned with Canadian principles. Carney's office pointed out that Canada ranks among the G7's slowest in AI adoption. The initiative aims to boost AI literacy and increase business uptake. He also mentioned the merger of Canadian firm Cohere with German AI company Aleph Alpha, resulting in a joint valuation of approximately US$20 billion, with headquarters in both Toronto and Berlin.